This document discusses the need for CPAs to transition from being reactive to proactive and anticipatory. Only 8% of CPAs currently have this "future ready" mindset. The top barriers preventing CPAs from being more proactive are lack of time and being too focused on reacting to immediate needs rather than planning ahead. To prepare for the future, CPAs must start learning new skills like strategic thinking, innovation, and change leadership. Fostering relationships will also be important as the future is about more than just technical skills.

1. The Anticipatory CPA
How to Get Ahead and
Stay Ahead
and shift from Reactive
to Proactive
By:Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA

2. www.blionline.org
The Lookout Post

3. www.blionline.org
Source: CPA.COM Insight into the CPA of the
Future Study 2014
Only 8% of CPAs are Future Ready
Future Ready is the capacity
to be aware, predictive, and
adaptive of emerging
challenges, tech innovations,
and trends and changes in
business, population, and
social environment.

4. Only 13% of CPAs Ahead of Curve

6. Gradual then Sudden

7. Gradual then Sudden

8. More Uber cars than yellow taxis on the road in NYC

9. AirBnB Rooms available surpasses Hilton & Marriott

11. Two of the world’s biggest oil and gas groups are set to deploy artificial
intelligence software to do the work of back-office accountants and call-
centre workers, in the latest sign that white- collar jobs could be under
threat from the rise of smart machines.

13. Will your job be done by a machine?
Source: NPR Planet Money, May, 2015

14. 'If the rate of change on the outside
exceeds the rate of change on the inside,
the end is near.’ – Jack Welch

15. In the next five
years we will
TRANSFORM
How we market,
sell , communicate,
collaborate,
innovate, and
educate
– Dan Burrus

16. Top Five Barriers
1. Not enough time.
2. Being reactive versus
proactive.
3. Doing more with less.
4. Information overload
(standards and
regulations).
5. Managing change.

17. A Clarion Call to Get Out of Our Box(es)
Leave me alone!
I spent thirty years
building this box.

18. “You can’t stop the waves, but you can
learn how to surf.” – Jon Kabat Zinn
Start by riding the
hard trends…

19. Start With Certainty
www.burrus.com

22. Legislation & Regulation
• Election implications
• Dodd-Frank
• Patent holding companies
• Cash basis
• STEM
• EEOC
• IRS Service
• Tax Extenders
• 3115 Repair Regs
• Workforce Mobility
• Tax Reform

23. Demographics

24. Work environment
Retention challenges
Leadership diversity
Skills gap
Leadership gap
Exam/pipeline numbers
Tech’s impact on CPA functions
Young CPA concerns

25. Time Travel Audit

26. Technology’s impact on firm service lines
• Efficiencies
• Innovation
• Efficiencies
• Innovation
• Transformative
• Revenue Growth
New Opportunities Emerging Dramatic Change
Audit Tax
Accounting
services
Source:AICPA Spring Council 2015

27. Cloud computing trends
Source: Sage North America
of small businesses are
demanding cloud-based
computing
61%

28. Technology adoption remains slow
Source: Sage North America
of firms are using online or cloud solutions to collaborate
and share accounting information with their clients
10%

29. Why are windshields so much bigger?

30. We Need New Skills…

31. www.blionline.org

32. ANTICIPATION
Strategic
Thinking
External
Awareness
Vision
Con7nuous
Learning
Innova7on
Crea7vity
Problem
Solving
Priori7za7on
Business
Acumen
Decisiveness
Influencing/Persuading
Emo7onal
Intelligence
Consensus
Building
Collabora7on
Inspira7on
Risk
Management
The competency of “anticipation” actually includes a number of
competencies included in many of the top companies of today and
the CPA Profession as well.
Across these models, you'll see a common theme of "strategic
thinking," "innovation" and "leading change."
Many of these organizations build (and validate) fantastic
competency models and know what they want people to do.
The beauty of the Anticipatory Organization model is that it offers
a clear process that makes highly-abstract leadership competencies
attainable and trainable.
If an organization wants to make "strategic thinking" or "innovation"
a core competency, we can provide clear, trainable activities that
can be targeted to a wide range of learners (from individual
contributors to senior leadership).
We provide the bridge between the competency model and the
desired observable behaviors.
Anticipation –The Critical Competency

33. http://www.blionline.org/ao

34. www.burrus.com

35. www.burrus.com

36. The No. 1 Barrier?
I am too busy and don’t have time…

37. CPAs are trusted advisors who
help business and organizations
shape their future. Combining
insight with integrity they
deliver value by:
• Communicating the total picture
with clarity and objectivity;
• Translating complex information
into critical knowledge;
• Anticipating and creating
opportunities;
• Designing pathways that
transform vision into reality.
Source:AICPA: CPA Horizons 2025 Report

38. V
A
L
U
E
Information
Wisdom
Knowledge
Data
MAXIMIZE HUMAN CAPITAL

39. Trust
Integrity
Objectivity
Excellence
Lifelong Learning
Stimulate Progress and Protect the Core.
What should not change…

40. The future is about relationships!

41. Five Steps to Get Started
1. Start with Certainty
2. Start Focusing on the
Future
3. Start Learning New
Skills
4. Protect the Core
(Purpose &Values)
5. Collaboration &
Relationships are key

42. Getting started:The No. 1 App
Spend just one hour per week in the future…

43. “Those who initiate change will have a
better opportunity to manage the
change that is inevitable.”
- William Pollard

44. If there is a conversation about the future
of the profession, you're bound to hear
Hood's name mentioned as one of the
people leading the way.
– Accounting Today
Tom Hood, CPA, CITP, CGMA
CPA Practice Adviser Accounting Hall of Fame
Named the Second Most Influential in Accounting
by Accounting Today Magazine 2013
Top 150 Influencer by Linked-In
Top 25 Influencers in Learning & HR by HR
Examiner
Top 25 Public Accounting Thought Leaders by
CPA Practice Adviser
Working on Learning Management with AICPA/
CPA2Biz, Cloud Curriculum, Performance
Management /XBRL, Leadership & Generations
CEO
Maryland Association of CPAs
(MACPA) www.macpa.org
Business Learning Institute
(BLI) www.blionline.org
http://www.linkedin.com/in/tomhood/